Fly in for Pelee Island Rabbit
- Posted on
- By Steve Elmy
- Posted in Winter, Winter Rabbit Hunting
Often in the winter, I spent time on the tractor, in the bush harvesting wood for heating my home and our shop. Outside of Ice fishing or travelling somewhere south for some much-needed sun, there isn’t much to hunt from January through March. It wasn’t until my first season EP 10 of Homegrown Hunter when I hunted with a close friend David Toole that I got absolutely hooked on hunting Rabbit in the dead of the winter.
Rabbit hunting wasn’t something I would have even considered as I always had chores to do that time of year, both on the farm and at work so I really just took the time to get caught up on other tasks. David had invited me down to hunt Rabbit in Essex County at an old Christmas tree farm that was overgrown. He assured me that I would love the calm, relaxing walk looking for the little white eye hunkered in a snow drift hiding from its pay and soaking the early morning sun.
Dave and I had ventured into the farm with high hopes of seeing a couple of rabbits and the day was not only a success but he got me hooked on a winter event that I make sure I do every year!
Rabbit is great table fare, and if you haven’t tried it I will share with you a recipe that you’ll enjoy very much.
Over the years I have gotten to know quite a few rabbit hunters and have shared a lot of these stories through the Homegrown Hunter but this story unparticular will be focussed on Pelee Island.
Pelee Island is the farthest southern inhabited point in Canada. Located south of Kingsville Ontario in the middle of Lake Erie measuring 10,000 acres or just over 40 square km. Pelee Island is known for its wineries and Pheasant hunts. Made up of mostly private land and agriculture there are a few very unique things about Pelee Island. In order to get there, you need to take a ferry throughout the summer or you have to fly in from Windsor airport. While I was at a Pheasant hunt in the fall discussion came up about the abundance of Rabbits there lived on the Island and they had my full attention while explaining this to me. It wasn’t long before I was agreeing to fly to the island to see what the action was all about!!
In January, along with several friends, Joe Fortin, Steven Wasylyk, Tyrel Gauweiler, and Chris Clark had a mission to get after the rabbits on the island. To start off, the trip began at Windsor Airport on a short 15-minute flight across to the island airport where Chris was going to pick us up. With open arms, the township got us our licenses to hunt on the island and we just needed to settle into one of the Airbnb that we booked on the island. There are several motels on the island as well if you choose to make the trip yourself.
Camo isn’t needed to hunt rabbits, as most of the time you are using dogs or jumping on brush piles but the camo helps set the mood! Along with hunter orange which is mandatory and the more orange the better. Keep in mind, action can get very fast past and as you will see on the show, it gets the heart going pretty quickly when we are hunting the thickets and around the vineyards.
I take rabbit hunting so seriously now, I even got my own rabbit beagle for the purpose of hunting in the winter months. Lilly is a beagle/basset cross and her mother was a Rabbit dog and her father was a deer hunting dog so she has the drive, the size and nose to get the rabbits on their toes.
Lilly was joining us on this type and taking her first flight. Being a young dog she was certainly nervous but I was confident that she would perform well in the field for the guys.
After we had arrived at the Pelee Island Airport, Chris picked us up in the suburban and we headed for camp. Our flight had taken place first thing in the am so it gave us pretty much the rest of the day to hunt and we were not going to waste any more time.
This hunt gets very exciting, we all get to shooting, we put on a lot of miles on our feet and with lots of fresh air, the hunt was very memorable. Using strategy, the wind in our favour and Lilly to get into those brush piles, I’m happy to say we got some great table fare.
Check out the hunt on this link, if you enjoy the hunt, be sure to like and subscribe to follow along and see what the Homegrown Hunter Crew is up to throughout the year! Thanks for joining, Until Next Time!